Course: U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Hartwell
Module: Week 2 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objectives covered: Objective 2 — Indigenous America, European contact, and colonization; compare Spanish, French, Dutch, and English colonial patterns; Jamestown and Plymouth; Chesapeake versus New England.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 2 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday pattern with Week 2 meeting Tue Sep 8 and Thu Sep 10 (note: Week 2 begins Sep 7, Labor Day — class does not meet; first session is Tue Sep 8), with end-of-week work due Sunday Sep 13, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 2 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 2: Colonization & Empire

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

Last week you learned how historians know things. This week you put those skills to work on the pivotal question of early American history: why did England's colonies in North America turn out so differently from each other — and from Spain's, France's, and the Netherlands' empires? You'll compare four colonial powers, then zoom into the two most consequential English beachheads: Jamestown (1607) in the Chesapeake and Plymouth (1620) in New England. By the end of the week you'll see how geography, religion, labor systems, and the choices of real people sent two colonies down radically different paths — and you'll read the document where the Plymouth settlers wrote down what they believed they were building.

The week's big question

"Why did England's colonies diverge so sharply — and what did colonists themselves say they were building?"

By Sunday you'll be able to compare the four European colonial powers, explain Chesapeake versus New England differences, identify the Mayflower Compact's significance, and argue from primary sources what each colony was for.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all four out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Compare Spanish, French, Dutch, and English colonial patterns — goals, labor systems, relations with Native peoples, and settlement strategies.
• [ ] Explain Jamestown's founding and early struggles — the Virginia Company, the "starving time," tobacco and John Rolfe, the headright system.
• [ ] Explain Plymouth's founding — who the Pilgrims/Separatists were (and how they differ from Puritans), the Mayflower, the Compact, and early relations with the Wampanoag.
• [ ] Analyze the Mayflower Compact — what "civil body politic" meant, who signed it, and who was left out.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up on the AI tools: chatbots routinely invent quotations from the Mayflower Compact that are not in the actual document, or confuse the 1620 Separatists with the 1630 Puritan Massachusetts Bay colonists. Your job is to catch those mistakes — every quiz, every workshop, every tutorial.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline — I'd much rather hear from you early.

How to succeed this week

• Carry last week's four moves. Every source this week — the Mayflower Compact, a John Smith account, a Spanish colonial chronicle — gets the same treatment: who wrote it, when, why, and what does it leave out?
• Don't flatten "the colonies." There was no single English colonial experience. Chesapeake and New England differed in almost every way that matters — climate, crop, labor, religion, mortality, family structure. Hold the differences clearly.
• Watch for the Puritan/Pilgrim trap. The Plymouth settlers were Separatists (Pilgrims) who wanted to break from the Church of England. The 1630 Massachusetts Bay settlers were Puritans who wanted to reform it. These are two different groups. The quiz will test this.
• Read the Compact for what it includes and leaves out. It's short enough to read twice. Notice who signed it and who didn't.
• Treat the chatbot as a confident but unreliable intern. It will tell you the Compact includes phrases it doesn't, or mix up Jamestown and Plymouth dates. Your job is to verify against the real document.

Come to class ready to argue about whether geography or religion mattered more. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 2

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Sep 7, 2026 (Labor Day — the module opens; no class that day). If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Sep 7."

Subject: Why did Jamestown and Plymouth turn out so differently? 🛶

Hi everyone,

Quick warm-up: imagine you've just crossed the Atlantic in 1607. You're an English settler landing in a marshy Virginia river estuary. Now imagine doing the same in 1620 — but landing farther north, in November, aboard a ship full of religious Separatists, only to discover you're far outside any English charter. These two groups built two of history's most studied colonies. Why did they turn out so differently?

This week — Colonization & Empire — we answer that question. We'll compare the four European powers who divided the continent among themselves (Spain, France, the Netherlands, and England), then zoom into Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620) — the tobacco-and-headrights Chesapeake versus the town-and-congregation New England — and read the document the Plymouth settlers wrote to explain what they were building: the Mayflower Compact.

Three things not to miss:
1. Primary Source Workshop 2 (the Mayflower Compact), Quiz 2, Discussion 2, and Assignment 2 all close Sun Sep 13 — the workshop is the heart of the course, so read the Compact before you start it.
2. Lecture Tutorial 2 (~60–90 min) — work through this week's ideas with one approved chatbot and submit the share link. You'll be asked to catch the chatbot's mistakes about the Compact's text and signers. Due Sun Sep 13.
3. Watch the Puritan/Pilgrim distinction — it shows up on the quiz and in the discussion. The Plymouth settlers were Separatists; the 1630 Massachusetts Bay settlers were Puritans. Different groups, different goals.

One question to carry into class on Tuesday: was the difference between Jamestown and Plymouth mainly about geography, religion, labor, or luck? There's no single right answer — but you'll need evidence by the time you post your discussion.

See you Tuesday,
Prof. Hartwell